


"Do You Remember Our Lullaby?"

by SelinaBeckendorf



Category: The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Genre: Briar and Basil being siblings, Briar is mine, Clara is not, Domestic Fluff, Gen, Mentions of a friend's oc, They get on each other's nerves a lot but they also love each other a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:13:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26109244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelinaBeckendorf/pseuds/SelinaBeckendorf
Summary: Briar couldn't sleep. Neither could Basil. So naturally, they cuddle by the blazing fireplace and Briar sings their lullaby.
Kudos: 3





	"Do You Remember Our Lullaby?"

**Author's Note:**

> I was Soft when I wrote this. I like siblings who get on each other's nerves being soft.

Briar couldn't sleep. There wasn't anything else to it, she just couldn't. It was rather annoying, especially because she didn't understand why she couldn't bring herself to slumber. 

With an irritated and sharp sigh, she sat up in her bed, tapping her fingers against her mattress as she weighed her options of trying to go back to sleep or do something productive. 

Opting for the productive option, she threw her blankets off her lap, making a mess of her bed. She'd have to straighten that up later, but she just couldn't be bothered right now.

Wiggling her bare feet into her slippers and grabbing the shawl off her desk chair to drape it over her shoulders, Briar quietly made her way downstairs, painfully aware of the other sleeping occupants of their home and avoiding the second to last step of the staircase. That particular step creaked, and any noise in the dead of night seems to increase in volume tenfold. 

Having successfully made it downstairs without waking anyone, Briar was surprised to see the fireplace blazing, it's fire warm and inviting and casting the room in a lovely orangey glow, and someone sitting in the chair facing away from her.

That someone sighed, the sound of a book closing and finding itself on the side table briefly filling the air along with the crackle of the fire. The sound was very familiar to her, so much so, she knew exactly who it was without anything else indicating otherwise. 

"You couldn't sleep either?" She asked, stepping up to the chair.  
Her brother stared up at her, also in his nightclothes, his favorite robe wrapped around him. He said nothing, merely nodding, and scooting to the side as much as he could, silently making room for her to join him. 

Join him she did, although it surprised her how comfortably they were able to fit in the one chair. After all, they weren't children anymore.

Basil leaned his head against her, and Briar leaned her head on Basil's. He turned over toward her, almost tucking his head under her chin and curling into a ball, while Briar wrapped an arm and part of her shawl around Basil's shoulder, bringing her knees up to comfortably cocoon him. She could only assume it was a nightmare that kept him up. It wouldn't be the first time. 

A silence fell over them as Briar tried to think about what she could do to help him take his nightmares off his mind. And then she remembered something. She remembered laying in bed when she and Basil were five, maybe six, their aunt singing them a lullaby she hadn't sung in ages. It was their favorite, and it was worth a try.  
"Hey, Basil?"

Basil hummed in acknowledgment. 

"Do you remember the lullaby Auntie used to sing to us?"

A small chuckle escaped him. "You mean the one we begged her to sing us for a month straight every night?"

"That's the one."

"How could I forget?"

A small laugh bubbled in Briar's throat, although she tried to keep quiet as best she could. 

"Why do you ask?"

Briar shrugged the shoulder not being used by Basil as a pillow. "Just thought singing it may help us sleep, that's all."

Basil didn't reply to her, but she did feel him shift again, just a little, likely trying to get the most comfortable spot. 

Briar took his silence as the go-ahead to do what she planned when she brought up the lullaby; she began to sing it.

"Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,  
When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen.  
Who told me so, dilly dilly, who told me so?  
Twas my own heart, dilly dilly, that told me so."

She remembered it better than she thought she did. Although perhaps that was due to the fact she'd both request it be sung and sing it herself almost every night in her youth. 

"Call up your men, dilly dilly, set them to work,   
Some to the plow, dilly dilly, some to the fork.   
Some to make hay, dilly dilly, some to cut corn,  
While you and I, dilly dilly, keep ourselves warm."

Basil sighed through his nose, a sound she chose to take as one of contempt, burying himself deeper into her warmth.

"Lavender's green, dilly dilly, lavender's blue,   
If you love me, dilly dilly, I will love you.  
Let the birds sing, dilly dilly, and the lambs play,   
We shall be safe, dilly dilly, out of harm's way."

Briar was now quite sure Basil was sound asleep, judging by his even breathing and how the previous tension in his shoulders and neck melted away. Good. Might as well finish the song though, just to be safe. 

"I love to dance, dilly dilly, I love to sing,  
When I am queen, dilly dilly, you'll be my king.  
Who told you so, dilly dilly, who told you so?  
I told myself, dilly dilly, I told me so."

Almost as soon as she finished the lullaby, she yawned, a welcome drowsiness flowing through her. Letting her eyes close, she finally fell asleep in the company of her brother, his warmth, and the soft light of the fire.

\----------------

Mrs. Judson's day started early, often rising with the sun. She had tea to make, breakfast to cook, chores to do. It wasn't a bad life, even if the occupants of the flat she took care of often found themselves on the brink of disaster. 

Before Miss Clara and Dr. Dawson joined in on the detective business, Mrs. Judson wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Basil and Miss Briar slumped over in one of the chairs of the sitting room or over the desk in the study late into the night before she herself retired for the evening. But it was rare she found not quite the opposite. 

As with every morning, Mrs. Judson rose with the dawn, getting up and dressed and down the stairs to make the morning tea and get started on breakfast for when the rest of them woke up, all within the hour.

Letting the water on the stove be to boil, she opened the door dividing the kitchen to the sitting room and was pleasantly amazed at what she found. 

Basil and Briar sat on one of the chairs by the simmering fireplace, curled up in each other's arms, and fast asleep, still in their nightclothes. 

The sight warmed Mrs. Judson's heart, a soft smile widening on her face. Spotting a blanket left over the arm of the other chair, she moved as quietly as she could to grab it and gently drape it over the sleeping siblings. 

"I'll let the poor dears rest a bit." She decided to herself, heading back into the kitchen with a last fond glance at the sight. 

As reckless and downright irritating the two could be, she decided she wouldn't rather be anywhere else in the world.


End file.
